Heat Wave
by anngraham
Summary: A simple swim to beat the heat turns out to be more dangerous than Graham could ever have foreseen.


**Disclaimer**: None of these characters belong to me and I am not making any money off of this. They all belong to the makers and producers of Swamp Thing.

**Warning**: Slight mature themes, but nothing spelled out.

**Heat Wave**

by Ann Graham

The heat was intense; he bet he could fry eggs of the pavement if he tried. And here he was, stuck indoors with no air conditioning, in some generic hotel because Dr. Arcane had business neither hell nor a heat wave was going to ruin.

Pacing restlessly, shirt sticking uncomfortably to his skin, he'd have given anything to be in the air conditioned meeting with the Doctor. Of course his presence would only hamper his employer's odds with the pretty blonde he'd been eyeing all that day. It made him mad to think about, here he was, dragged all the way from Houma and then dumped like so much baggage all because of a woman. *Story of my life,* sighing deeply he flung himself on the bed, *no wonder I hate women.*

After counting the tiles on the ceiling and then all the cracks Graham had had enough. Not only was he sweating in places he was sure weren't supposed to sweat, he was bored out his mind. Suddenly the hotel's pool came to mind, hopefully it was unheated in this kind of temperature. Graham grabbed his trunks, silently thanking Stella for packing them. He'd been is such a state trying to get everything ready for the Doctor that he'd completely forgotten to pack his own clothes. Graham had thought he was either going to have to ask Dr. Arcane to wait a few minutes, a prospect that did not fill him with joy; the Doctor did not like to be kept waiting, that had been made clear to him on many occasions. Or, he could have gone on the trip with nothing to change into over the weekend. Frankly that option had more appealing then begging for more time from the Doctor. Stella had come through for him though, handing him his luggage with a knowing smile. *I'll have to think of a way to repay her,* Graham hastily changed out of his clothes, *maybe I can get her some flowers. Women seem to like that, and she really did save me alot of trouble.*

Trudging down to the pool Graham's mind kept coming back Stella, really she was the only women he'd ever met that didn't seem to want to get in the Doctor's pants. In fact she seemed to well, seemed to like him. Which was odd for him, living almost in Arcane's shadow Graham was used to being ignored. Whether it was from the Doctor himself, other scientists or basically everyone Graham had gotten used to it. Still, he found he rather liked Stella, liked talking to her and being around her.

Easing into the delightfully cool waters Graham even held the startling thought that maybe he could ask her out, maybe she'd even say yes. Floating in the pool Graham found his thoughts for once not straying to Dr. Arcane and wondering how he was doing, but staying on Stella.

A sudden splash of water hit his face, making him choke and almost go under before he managed to get his feet under him. Sputtering he looked around, spying a heavy set man eyeing him from no further than ten feet away. Suddenly the man smiled at him, making Graham aware of how alone he was. It was late when he had come down and now it was even later, only the pool side lights were on, leaving the darkness to press in around them.

Nervous for some unexplained reason Graham quickly swam to the other side, avoiding looking the other man. Thus he was unprepared when he felt someone grab his arm.

"Hi there," the man said, fingers tightening on his arm, "You aren't leaving already are you?"

"I, I've already been here awhile," Graham forced a smile, subtly trying to free his arm. "Think it's time to call it a night."

"I thought we might get to know each other. My name is Ralph," Not releasing his grip, the man inched even closer.

"Er, nice to meet you Ralph, but I really gotta go." This time yanking his arm free Graham practically leapt out of the pool. Grabbing his towel he was shocked when the man suddenly appeared before him. Making him realize what he'd mistaken for fat was muscle, in fast a lot of muscle, covered with various tattoos. Swallowing Graham looked up, noticing the man was also quite a bit taller than he was. *This is so not good.* Slowly he inched backwards, eyeing the distance he would have to travel to make it safely to the hotel.

"I don't think you understand guy," Ralph pressed forward, catching Graham once again by the arm before he could make a dash for freedom. Dragging the other man closer he grinned, "I'm not asking you to stay, I'm telling you!"

Face twisting in disgust Graham could now smell the alcohol on the other man's breath. The stakes got a lot higher when he was roughly pushed to the ground. Feeling the first real gut-wrenching twist of fear Graham was unable to move as he suddenly found himself pinned under the heavy weight and a pair of determined hands reaching into his trunks.

Yelling and struggling Graham desperately tried to free himself. If he could just get to his feet, he knew he could outrun this guy. Sinking his teeth into the nearest piece of flesh he could reach Graham heard a very satisfying scream of pain. Not so satisfying however was the punch thrown at his face. Stars flickered across his vision as everything momentarily blurred for him. Dimly he could hear another painful yell and some cursing, which didn't make sense to since he wasn't a threat to the bigger man right now.

Graham drifted in and out of consciousness with no idea of how much time had passed. All he knew was to keep on fighting, struggling weakly against the hands that held him down.

"Bloody hell Graham, calm down," Arcane's irritated voice reached his ears.

"Dr. Arcane? Is, is that you?" blearily staring up through what seemed like three feet of frosted glass Graham could barely make out the man's features. He collapsed boneless in relief at the Doctor's oh so familiar glare.

"No, I'm the bloody pope you moron." Tone lacking any real venom Arcane carefully helped his assistant sit up, sliding an arm around the man's shoulder. Truth be told he'd been almost terrified when he heard Graham's cries for help and seen the other man attacking. Being afraid for another person was not something he was used to or liked. "Come on old chap, stand up now." Shakily Graham made it to his feet, having to cling rather heavily to Arcane to remain upright.

"What, what happened to the other guy," shivering; now cold despite the heat Graham could feel a delayed reaction set in. Arcane hurried the man to their rooms as fast as he dared. Once safely inside with the door barred and locked did he bother to answer his assistant.

"Don't worry about your admirer, Graham. I don't think he'll be bothering anyone much anymore."

"He was going, going to .." swallowing dryly he couldn't force the words past his throat, feeling dangerous tears prickle hotly against his eyelids.

"Shh, Graham," laying a blanket over the man Arcane settled in close, one arm almost naturally creeping around his assistant's shoulder. "It's okay. It didn't happen. That filthy beast has been taken care of." The truth was he sill saw red when he thought about what almost happened. No one was allowed to touch his assistant like that! Arcane felt relieved that his evening hadn't turned out as planned, else he would have been much too late.

Trembling Graham couldn't keep the horrible thought from flashing through his mind. Feeling Arcane's arm tighten in response he buried his face against the man's neck, allowing his reaction to sweep over him. Arcane pulled Graham even closer wrapping his other arm protectively around the man, one hand absently stroking through his assistant's hair. They stayed in that position for a long time until Arcane felt Graham's shivering stop and the man's deepened breathing against his skin. Exhausted Graham had fallen asleep.

Carefully shifting so he could lay down Arcane argued with himself why he hadn't left yet. That man might come looking for either one of them; really it was safer to just stick together. Satisfied with his reasoning Arcane settled in comfortably, drifting off to sleep with the familiar warm body of his assistant pressed close.

The End


End file.
